China’s landscape is diversified. The country has plains, broad grasslands, hills, plateaus, low mountain ranges, mountains, major river deltas, deserts, and dry lakebeds. The climate varies from tropical in the Southern regions to sub-freezing in the Northern provinces. Major environmental problems are rapid desertification, air pollution caused by greenhouse gases and use of coal produces, water pollution from untreated wastes, deforestation, and soil erosion.

Agriculture sector is of great importance in China as it employs more than 300 million farmers. Although China is still considered as a communist state, the collectivization of farms was abandoned long ago and cultivable land was allotted to private owners with the objective of enhancing productivity. While China's agricultural output is the highest in the world, only about 15 percent of its total land area is arable. Interestingly, the cultivable land, which is just 10 percent of the total arable land in the world, supports over 20 percent of the world's population. About 75 percent of the area under cultivation is devoted to food crops. About 37.5 percent of the total arable land is irrigated. The land has been distributed among about 200 million households, with an average land allocation of 0.65 hectares per household.

Limited space for farming has been a persistent problem for China. No surprise that the country in recent years was the world's largest importer of soybeans and other food crops. Lately, big cities like Beijing have been adopting peri-urban agriculture to meet food needs of the fast expanding urban population. The Modern Agricultural Science Demonstration Park in Xiao Tangshan is a recent evidence of the importance attached to peri-agriculture.

HISTORY OF EXTENSION

AND THE ENABLING / DISABLING ENVIRONMENT

The evolution of formal agricultural extension in China spreads over several decades, and it offers lessons in the government recognition of extension’s importance in nation building, forbearance, consolidation and incremental improvements based on vision, local considerations and realities on the ground. In 1920’s the Jinling University established a cotton extension section in the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, got the services of a US government expert to assist in the adaptation of US cotton in China and then in the dissemination of the improved cotton technology among farmers. The first extension station was established in 1924 in Wujiang, He County, Anhui Province, followed by the establishment of an agricultural research station. In 1929, “Regulation of Agro-extension,” which was the first law of extension, was enacted in the form of the Central Agro-extension Committee. During the 1950s, after the Peoples Republic of China came into being, the agricultural technology extension (ATE) system was well set up. County-level demonstration farms, manned by Mutual Help Group model laborers and technicians, and ATE stations were established.

From mid-1960s to 1970s, when the Green Revolution was unfolding in South and South-East Asia, the Cultural Revolution in China disbanded the ATE system. Instead, a four-level county agricultural sciences experiment network was extended nationwide. The network’s four levels were: county agricultural research institute; commune agricultural scientific technology station; agricultural scientific technology brigade; and production extension team.

With the end of the Cultural Revolution in the late 1970s, the commune system also collapsed, and the government started reforming its agricultural extension services. Major thrust of the reform was to merge previously scattered functions of agricultural technology generation, experimentation, demonstration, extension, training and commercial services (mainly supply of agricultural inputs) into one agro-extension system. The Household Contract Responsibility modality was started in rural areas for development purposes. The National General Agricultural Technology Extension Station was established by the Ministry of Agriculture in 1982. The Plant Protection Bureau and the Seed Bureau were simultaneously changed to the National General Plant Protection Station and the National General Seed Management Station respectively. The National General Soil Fertilizer Station was built in 1986. These national level organizational changes later became the basis for creating a modern ATE system reaching townships, counties and villages. At lower administrative levels, several technical centers on crops, plant protection, soils, etc. were integrated to create an extension structure. By 1992, as many as 1,469 County Agricultural Technology Extension Centers (CATECs) and 45,000 Township Agricultural Technology Extension Stations (TATESs) had been established in addition to a large number of Agricultural Technology Demonstration Households (ATDHs).

While organizational changes were going on in 1983, the government allowed the agricultural technology staff to sign service provision contracts with economic institutions and obtain pro rata bonus from enhanced production, thus providing incentive to its extension workers to earn income in addition to their regular salaries. In 1985, the government allowed ATE institutions to launch enterprise-type business entities, and then taking another step in 1985 which would allow extension agents to charge for certain services. All these reforms were indeed a smart move which not only moved the extension staff towards gaining financial sustainability but also let them enter into a business mode something extension services of most developing countries are still lacking.

Continuing the process of improvement built on the past reforms, the government issued a directive in 1991 for strengthening the township level TATESs as grassroots extension institutions. Accordingly, graduates of junior colleges and technical secondary schools were to serve as frontline extension workers, and the staffing and funding for the TATESs were to be provided by provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities according to their respective financial status. In 1993, a law on the popularization of agricultural technology was passed. Yet another government order issued in 1996 directed the enhancement and guaranteeing of funds for ATE at all levels, which also covered the type, number and structure of staff. In 1998, the government defined a framework for rural economic set-up in which the household was given central responsibility, to be supported by agricultural services, product marketing services, and national support system for agriculture. The same year, the Ministry of Agriculture initiated the planning and coordination of an agricultural services mechanism comprising five components namely crop farming, animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, agricultural mechanization, aquaculture, and rural operations and management. Further consolidation of the grassroots township extension structure was done in 2000 through the merger of various ATE institutions, and the transfer of personnel, financial and property rights from the county to the township level.

The year 2003 was crucial in terms of extension reforms when the Ministry of Agriculture joined hands with the State Commission Office for Public Sector Reform (SCOPSR), Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security. The pilot work on extension reform was carried out in 12 provinces under direct supervision of the central government. A conference on extension was also held in Beijing in 2003. Two years later, the Ministry of Agriculture launched a nationwide program of innovative pilot reforms, based on the joint recommendations of the relevant ministries. A 2006 government document, “Opinions of the State Council on Deepening Reform and Strengthening the Building of Agricultural Technology Extension System at the Grassroots Level” was released that recommended, among other reforms, gradual introduction of pluralistic extension system involving relevant national level institutions, rural cooperative economic bodies, research institutes, academic institutions and agricultural enterprises.

The “Decisions” of the government in 2008 directed further extension reforms in the form of capacity building of extension staff for improving its technical quality, required innovation in the management system, improvement of township and regional ATE institutions within three years, and gradual building of village level service stations. During 2009 and 2010, China started investing heavily in constructing and improving physical extension infrastructure at the township level. The most recent reform measure is “Document 1” of the highest government committee, issued in 2012, which directs the acceleration of the innovation and extension of agricultural science and technology, enhancement of the ATE capacity, implementation of the nationwide demonstration program for reform and establishment of the ATE system at the grassroots level, including the construction of infrastructure for the township level extension setup, and activating extension institutions at all levels.

Presently, the public ATE system of China functions at five administrative levels, i.e. national, provincial, city (or prefectural), county and township. The county and township levels constitute the basis of this grassroots extension system. There is no doubt that the reforms undertaken so far in a truly sustained manner reflect both the recognition, and the political and financial commitment of the government to the extension profession. Even though the ATE system remains public yet there are moves to make it pluralistic. The system has performed satisfactorily if not ideally without any meaningful involvement of the private sector. Also, the central government has shifted the responsibility for financing extension among lower government offices. Another practical reform has been to encourage the extension staff to get involved in business enterprises, which will obviously motivate them to learn about production and marketing, thus making them eventually competent in advising the farmers on enhancing the production, improving the quality and value addition to the produce, marketing, and probably operating the farms like businesses. The environment for extension work in China, therefore, seems to be very positive in spite of a huge population, limited geographical space for farming, occasional environmental problems and top-down program planning. As the time passes, contributions of extension to agricultural and rural development are bound to emerge clearly.

However, in spite of all the reform initiatives, it will not be right to say that the China’s extension system is flawless. It has several operational problems and challenges to confront for further improvement; some of them are insufficient investment; too many farmers to be covered by too little staff; too many non-extension tasks given to extension staff; considerable number of non-professional technicians; top-down program planning with little participation of farmers who have diversified farming issues; less than satisfactory coordination among relevant departments; and negligible involvement of private companies in extension.

Starting 2009, as China started investing in the promotion and reform of the ATE system about RMB 800 million (equal to about 127 million US dollars) per year from its own resources, there was really no need for donors’ assistance in the field of agriculture. The Enhancement of Agricultural Extension System Project that was implemented from 1999 to 2004 in Zigong City of the Sichuan Province may be called an example of cooperation between Japan and China.

China became a formal member of the new donors’ club at the Fourth High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, held in Busan, South Korea from 29 November to 1 December 2011. Even prior to that, China’s program of foreign assistance was supporting agricultural development in many less developed countries notably in sub-Saharan Africa. Countries like Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Mali and Nigeria have benefitted from the Chinese cooperation. China’s assistance in agriculture comes in various forms such as building of farms, agro-technology demonstration centers, experiment stations, and farm irrigation conservation structures; provision of farm machinery, produce processing equipment and materials; assignment of Chinese agro-technicians and senior experts in recipient countries; consultations; and training of agricultural human resources. China also extends loans and grants to needy countries.

The national level extension institution is the National Agricultural Technology Extension and Service Center (NATESC). Below that, a large number of Agricultural Technology Extension and Service Centers (ATESCs) are located at each administrative level, i.e. provincial, city/prefectural, county and township, which cover four technical areas namely crops, livestock, aquaculture and agricultural machinery. The ATE system performs the following functions:

Provision of public service (done through on-site consultations, telephone counseling, and Internet based counseling);

Supporting science and technology (done through introduction of improved, high yielding varieties);

Improving farmers’ capability (done through training);

Functioning as a bridge between the government and the farmers (done through establishment of demonstration sites, and provision of need based training following the Farmer Field School approach)

Table 1. Number of Agro-Tech Extension & Service Centers and Extension Staff (including professionals and agro-technicians) in Crop Production, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries in China as of 2008

Level

Number of Agro-tech Extension & Service Centers

(ATESCs) and Staff

Crop Production

Animal Husbandry

Fisheries

Total

(all three disciplines included)

National (National Agricultural Technology and Service Center, Ministry of Agriculture)

ATESCs

Information on technical disciplines covered separately not available

5

Staff

Information on technical disciplines covered separately not available

687

Province (31)

ATESCs

174

89

36

299

Staff

5,118

3,379

1,197

9,694

City/Prefectural/Municipal (333)

ATESCs

1,694

705

312

2,711

Staff

23,322

10,474

3,458

37,254

County (2,862)

ATESCs

10,656

6,449

2,113

19,218

Staff

145,401

79,179

15,046

239,626

Districts (being phased out)

ATESCs

318

318

Staff

1,062

1,062

Township (41,636)

ATESCs

39,262

30,033

10,437

79,732

Staff

167,516

145,743

16,124

329,383

Total

ATESCs

51,786

37,276

13216

102,283

Staff

341,357

238,775

36,887

617,706

Sources: Number of staff and that of ATESCs from a draft report prepared by Li Xueqi, Senior Agronomist, National Agro-Tech Extension and Service Center, People’s Republic of China, January 2010; the number of administrative units at various levels from a PowerPoint presentation made by Ruifa Hu, Beijing Institute of Technology, and Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2006, “The Public Agricultural Extension System in China: Development and Reform”; available at:www.syngentafoundation.org/view/element_href.cfm?src=1/1119 ...

Non-Public Institutions

Private sector

There are no extension advisory services offered by the private sector. Agricultural commercial companies are mainly involved in the promotion and sale of their agricultural products. Examples of such companies are:

It is a large-scale and modernized enterprise engaged in the development, production and sale of mineral fertilizers and chemical products. The company’s production facilities are located in Hainan Province, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Hubei Province.

It is an investment holding company with operating arms in China and Vietnam. It is a leading feed producer, recognized for its product quality and safety.

This company is primarily engaged in the research, production and sale of agricultural products. Its main products are crop seeds, such as hybrid rice, corn, wheat, vegetables and fruits, pepper and pepper products; rice, agricultural chemicals, cotton, rapes and others. The company distributes its products in domestic and overseas markets.

This company deals in duck breeding, egg processing and feedstuff. It has facilities for breeding and hatching and also provides technical information on ducks.

Non-governmental organizations

By and large, the government maintains control over non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in China. Unlike in most other countries, the Chinese NGOs are not only required to find a government or ruling party sponsor for registration but also many NGOs receive their funding from the government hence the term GONGO (government-organized NGO). With the time, however, many NGOs have attained relative independence and some of them do not receive any financial support from the government. There are no specific NGOs which focus on agricultural extension per se. Extension activities are implicit in certain NGOs’ programs of rural community development. Four examples of relevant Chinese NGOs are given below.

It is a GONNGO established in 1989, with the mission to alleviate poverty in China. CFPA’s projects cover activities like drinking water for human and livestock, terracing by moving stones, house rebuilding, rural education, rural applied technology training, improving rural women and child health, poverty alleviation through media, and disaster relief.

This NGO was established in 1989. It is best known for its impressive Project Hope which was an entirely NGO operation, without any government funding support. The project aimed at helping school dropouts in poor remote regions return to school to complete at least elementary education. CYDF has also improved educational facilities in rural areas through teachers’ training and other activities. Media has been extensively used by this NGO, which has established successful partnerships with international NGOs and major Chinese multinationals.

The Amity Foundation was established in 1985 by Chinese Christians to promote education, social services, health and rural development in China. The NGO conducts one-year training course for village health workers. It has implemented more than a dozen long-term large integrated rural development projects in at least eight poor provinces.

It is a rather unusual NGO, which started in 1993 in the form of the magazine Rural Women Knowing All, targeting rural poor women of China. The name of the magazine has now been changed to Rural Women. The magazine has empowered rural women in several ways. Apart from the fact that the magazine itself is focused on the prosperity and destiny of rural women in China, its management has established over the years three non-profit centers namely Cultural Development Center for Rural Women, Practical Skills Training Center for Rural Women, and Migrant Women’s Club. These centers spread basic literacy among rural women and also provide information on health, sanitation, agriculture and livestock. The magazine also runs mini-credit programs for women in poor rural counties.

Farmers-based associations, cooperatives and societies

In view of a variety of problems and issues faced by the country’s 800 million rural residents, the government has been very supportive of establishing farmers’ organizations in the form of associations or cooperatives. Examples of economic activities undertaken by the associations are growing food crops (like cereals), cash crops (like cotton, tobacco, peanuts), vegetables, special crops (like medical herbs), orchards, specialty fruits, livestock ((like hogs, cattle, lamb, poultry, aquaculture, silkworms), and marketing. According to a 2008 study, farmers’ professional cooperatives existed in 21 percent of China’s villages, providing services to about 24 million farm households.

There are a number of farmers-based associations in China, also called as farmers’ professional associations. A few examples are:

CCA is a non-profit organization. Its members come from all aspects of cotton sector and include cotton farm groups, buyers, sub-contractors, vendors, exporters, warehouse companies, clothing industry and cotton research organizations.

It is basically a social professional group, established voluntarily in 2000. The association comprises organic tea growers, producers, processors, managers, and interested individuals. It has 27 branches and covers 4,000 households.

CAAA is a national level organization with membership from enterprise, public institutions and individuals involved in animal husbandry and related industries. It is a non-profit social body, and its activities include industry management, international cooperation, conferences, exhibitions, professional training, product recommendation, quality authentication, and information exchange and consultancy services.

This association is located near Tong City in Inner Mongolia, one of China’s poorest rural areas. Members produce a variety of beans like kidney beans, mung and soybeans in addition to peanuts. There are only about 39 farmers responsible for cultivating and harvesting all of the cooperative’s crops.

This association is located in the Jiangxi Region and was certified in 2005.

TRAINING OPTIONS FOR EXTENSION PROFESSIONALS

Pre-service education in extension may be obtained at any of agricultural academic institutions in China. These institutions offer degree programs in various agricultural disciplines. A brief description of a few old, well established Chinese agricultural universities is presented as follows:

·China Agricultural Universityhttp://www.cau.edu.cn A public institution, established in 1905; comprises 18 colleges and schools including the School of Continuing Education

·Shanxi Agricultural Universityhttp://www.saxu.edu.cn/ This academic institution is under the provincial government, located in the rural town of Taigu. It was founded in 1907. The university has established academic relationship with universities and research institutions in Germany, Japan, Australia and Britain.

·Nanjing Agricultural Universityhttp://english.njau.edu.cn/ This is one of the oldest agricultural universities, established in 1902, located in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. The university offers both undergraduate and graduate programs in several agricultural sciences. It has established a cooperation relationship with Cornell University, USA since 1980s. The university also has academic relationship with the University of Wisconsin, USA.

·Southwest Agricultural Universityhttp://www.swu.edu.cn/ This university, located in Chongqing, was founded in 1950. It offers advanced degrees in agricultural sciences including Master and Doctorate.

·Northwest Agricultural and Forestry Universitywww.nwsuaf.edu.cn Northwest A&F University is located in Yangling, Shaanxi Province. It was established in 1934. The university is composed of 23 academic faculties, and offers advanced degrees in agricultural sciences, forestry, and several other fields. It enrolls both national and international students. The university also has a College of Vocational and Adult Education.

·Shenyang Agricultural Universityhttp://www.syau.edu.cn/index/english.htm This university was established in 1952, and is located in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. Besides offering undergraduate and graduate programs in a large number of disciplines, it also offers degree programs in rural development and adult continuing education.

In-service training of extension professionals takes place at any of the hundreds of Agricultural Technology Extension and Service Centers located at various administrative levels, or at agricultural universities. There is another facility, China International Center for Agricultural Training (CICAT), which is a part of the South China Agricultural University and offers short training courses on agricultural topics. http://www.scau.edu.cn/english/english/international/CICAT.htm

INFO-MEDIARIES AND INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) FORAGRICULTURE AND EXTENSION

According to the World Bank, in 2011, the number of mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) in China was 73.18. During the same year, the number of Internet users (per 100 people) in the country was 38.39. China has been taking big leaps at ICT application to its agriculture sector, which constitute direct and indirect support to agricultural extension programs benefiting clientele of extension, even though the digital divide between urban and rural areas still remains huge. Information needs of farmers are not only increasing but also getting more diversified. The government launched the “Golden Agriculture Program” in 1994 under which substantial progress has been made in delivering information to the farming population. In recent years, the government has made huge investments in improving or constructing infrastructure required for ICT use. Efforts are also being made to introduce computer literacy among the rural population. Currently, ICT-based information reaches rural residents through radio, television, satellite, landline telephones, cellular phones, computer and the Internet.

Major ICT-based incentives in China are summarized below:

·China Central Agricultural Broadcasting & Television School (CABTS)

CABTS was established in 1980. This well established distance-education institution is dedicated to serving rural areas, agricultural subjects and farmers. CABTS comprises one central school, 39 provincial schools, 330 prefecture/city schools, 2,408 county schools, and 23,000 township teaching stations, serving over one million learners. It offers training programs, short courses and even degree programs; disciplines include crop cultivation, livestock, economics and management, aquaculture, forestry and computer applications. Distance teaching is done through radio, television, audio and videotapes, as well as VCDs and printed materials. Three national television networks telecast these academic programs for 40 hours per week. Since 1999, CABTS has been given mandate to operate the National Farmers’ Education Network”.

·The Chinese Education and Research Network (CERNET)

In 2000, the government launched the CERNET, which is the Internet-based China Distance Education Network. By 2001, 52 satellite stations had been established in the country. The CERNET National Center is located in Tsinghua University, and its provincial nodes are distributed among 38 universities in 36 cities within China. The network has 12 global and regional channels connected with the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan. More than 2,000 education and research institutions, 1.2 million PCs and 20 million end users have been connected to CERNET.

The AII is a national level non-profit research institute, with the mission to undertake scientific innovation activities in the field of agricultural information and to provide sci-tech information services to the needy. Three major research fields covered by AII are ICT application in agriculture, agricultural information management, and agricultural information analysis. The institute is also the national agricultural sci-tech documentation center. Its National Agricultural Library has a collection of 2.1 million copies of books and journals.

·Internet-based system for sale and promotion of agricultural products

This system is operated by the Ministry of Agriculture as a branch of e-agriculture. It comprises the following four websites of public interest:

Farmers and other interested parties can log on free-of-charge to this website to share their supply and demand information, as well as pictures regarding agricultural products. The website is very popular among the farmers with a membership of 360,000, and draws on average about one million hits on daily basis.

This website serves as a platform for displaying leading enterprises of agricultural industrialization, farmers’ cooperatives, and organic food products. The information is displayed in Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean and Russian languages. The website visitors include nationals and overseas persons.

When sales of any agricultural products slow down due to climate change, natural disaster or misguided planting, the news is posted on this website. The concerned people and institutions in provinces learn quickly about the prevailing situation leading to accelerated sale of the affected products.

CATF, a big international fair is held every October in China, in which Chinese and foreigners participate in large numbers. Agricultural products and advanced agricultural technologies are displayed. The developments in the fair can be followed on the website.

·China Central Radio and TV University (CCRTVU)

The Ministry of Education started this open, distance-learning institution in 1978. Based in Beijing, it offers multi-media courses through radio, television, audio-visual materials, and print and computer software. As many as 28 provincial universities are linked to this university. In 1986, China Educational TV (CETV) was founded which began telecasting CCRTU’s courses via satellite.

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES

Asenso-Okyere, K. and D.A. Mekonnen (January 2012). The Importance of ICTs in the Provision of Information for Improving Agricultural Productivity and Rural Incomes in Africa. United Nations Development Program Regional Bureau for Africa Working Paper (WP 2012-015: January 2012)

Binswanger-Mkhize, H.P. and Y. Zhou (March 2012). Proceedings of The Roundtable Consultation on Agricultural Extension for Strengthening Sustainable Agriculture and Farmers’ Participation in Value Chains in Asia; held March 15-16, 2012 at Beijing. Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture. Available at: www.syngentafoundation.org/view/element_href.cfm?src=1/1126...

Chuang, N., B. Swanson and F. Yan (November 2002). Financing of Extension: Lessons from China; case study prepared for the workshop “Extension and Rural Development: A Convergence of Views on International Approaches?” held in Washington, DC; November 12-15, 2002; hosted by the World Bank, USAID and the Neuchatel Initiative

Li Xueqi (2008). Study on Identification and Characterization of Promising Chinese Best Agricultural Extension Practice for Adaptation to Ethiopia. Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations

National Agricultural Technology Extension and Service Center (NATESC), Beijing (2012). Overview of the Development of Agricultural Technology Extension in China; Background paper prepared for the Roundtable Consultation on Agricultural Extension, Beijing, March 15-17, 2012; available at: www.syngentafoundation.org/view/element_href.cfm?src=1/1083...

Qamar, M.K. (March 2008). Learning from Agricultural Extension and Other Enabling Factors Causing the Green Revolution in Selected Asian Countries: An Analysis. Consultancy Report prepared under the project TCP/ETH/3101; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Wan, M., F.W. Chan, Q. Zhang, E. Dodsworth, P. Edge and Y.C. Low (2008). ICT/E-Learning Readiness Analysis for Farmers in China. Paper included in the Proceedings of the Agricultural Information and IT Joint Conference (edited by Takashi Nagatsuka and Seishi Ninomiya), jointly organized by the International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists (IAALD), the Asian Federation of Information Technology in Agriculture (AFITA), and the World Congress on Computers in Agriculture (WCCA), at Tokyo University of Agriculture, August 24-27, 2008; available at: www.cabi.org/GARA/ShowPDF.aspx?PAN=20083298126